“Unto you is charged the great task of keeping the purity of time. Know that there is only one true timeline, though there are those who would have it otherwise. You must protect it. Without the truth of time as it is meant to unfold, more will be lost than you can possibly imagine. The fabric of reality will unravel. It is a heavy task--the base of all tasks of this world, for nothing can transpire without time.”

— Aman'Thul's blessing of the Bronze Aspect

The bronze dragonflight are dragons with yellow-bronze scales and can breath superheated sand. During the Ordering of Azeroth, the titanAman'Thul blessed the wise Nozdormu and his brood with the ability to time travel and mastery of temporal magic. Generally stoic and detached from 'current' events, they are rare to interact with mortals unless they require help in safeguarding the one true timeline. Their nemeses are the Infinite dragonflight, a faction of bronze dragons corrupted by the Old Gods who wish to rewrite the timeline. While the Caverns of Time are the flight's home, Tanaris Desert is their province.[1]

They could once see the past and future with perfect clarity. They can still travel the timeways, but don't have that perfect knowledge anymore since Deathwing's defeat.[2] They've also lost the ability to control the flow of time.[3][4] A growing faction of discontent within the Bronze dragons believes they should change history to make a better future.[2]Kairozdormu appears to be a part of this faction, and it is possible that this faction will become the Infinite dragonflight.

Culture

Bronze dragons exist to keep the time stream inviolate and the order of events progressing as the fates intended.[1] Considered to be protectors, the bronze dragonflight find themselves greatly attracted to areas of civilization. They display great cunning in all things and are very patient by nature, always relying on observation and acting with a plan before being hasty.[5] Bronze dragons are very sensitive to the flow and ebb of the time stream, especially Nozdormu and his prime consort Soridormi. From within their home, The Caverns of Time, located underneath the vast sands of the Tanaris desert, the wardens of time can often be found disguising themselves in mortal guises and entering the timestreams, which they constantly attempt to maintain and repair.

Bronze dragons are very cunning, much like blues, and value wisdom and patience over all else. Nozdormu, their patron Aspect of Time, is patience incarnate. In their duties bronze dragons on occasion turn to mortals. A few individuals in service of the bronze flight, possibly dragonsworn, refer to themselves as Watchers. Baristolth of the Shifting Sands was dying when Anachronos breathed upon him and he was bound as a Watcher.[6]Jonathan the Revelator was empowered by the Timeless One himself and became keeper of the sacred gong and eternal watcher of the bronze flight.[7]Ralo'shan the Eternal Watcher, a night elf forever tied to Staghelm Point also appears to be a Watcher. Xarantaur, <The Witness>, a tauren druid historian was made a Watcher by Nozdormu in order to continue his studies of mortal civilizations. These individuals have been granted immortality in order to serve the needs of their draconic patrons.

Bronze dragonkin are sometimes referred to as Amber. When taking a humanoid form, most bronze dragons prefer to transform into gnomes,[8] though humans and quel'dorei guises are also common.

Most bronzes dragons know how they eventually die. Trying to prevent this for personal reasons would be an abuse of their powers and goes against everything the flight stands for.[9]

Nomenclature

Members of the bronze dragonflight occasionally have names ending in "dormu" for males, or "dormi" for females, though exceptions exist. Sometimes terms relating to time find their way into their names as well.

The Timewalking vendors also have names differing from the usual nomenclature, such as Xia and Kiatke.

History

Charge of the Dragonflights

Before the Titans departed Azeroth, they charged the greatest species of the world with the task of watching over it. In that age, there were many dragonflights, yet five flights, one of which was the bronze, held dominion over their brethren and were chosen to shepherd the budding world. The greatest members of the Pantheon imbued a portion of their power upon each of the flights' leaders. Aman'Thul, the Highfather of the Pantheon, bestowed a portion of his cosmic power upon the massive bronze dragon, Nozdormu. The Highfather empowered Nozdormu to guard time itself and police the ever-spinning pathways of fate and destiny. The stoic, honorable Nozdormu became known as the Timeless One.[10]

The time following this came to be known as the age of dragons, when the civilization of dragonkind was at its peak.[11]

War of the Ancients

When the night elves inadvertently called the Burning Legion to the world, the Aspect of the Earth, Neltharion, suggested creating a magical artifact to aid in the destruction of the demons. Nozdormu was strangely absent at the time, unable to be located even by his own flight, and so his Prime consort Soridormi, using an Hourglass holding a portion of the Bronze Aspect's power, gave much of her mate's essence toward the creation of this object, called the Dragon Soul.

When each dragon had contributed a portion of his or her essence to the artifact, Neltharion deemed it complete. The bronzes joined the other dragons in flight over the battle and the Black Aspect brought the Dragon Soul to bear against the Legion, with devastating effects on the demonic swarm — but only for a precious few moments. He then shocked his fellow aspects and turned the artifact against the terrified night elves as well, and finally his own brethren. The shocked dragons were helpless to resist the power of the Dragon Soul, for it contained a fraction of the essence of each — with the exception of Neltharion himself. All the dragonflights, save Neltharion's own, were paralyzed in midair until the timely intervention of Korialstrasz, a mate of the red dragonqueen, who had been absent from the initial use of the artifact. While Korialstrasz was no match for the Aspect of Earth, he did manage to interrupt Neltharion's concentration for a moment, freeing the other dragons from their paralysis and allowing them to act. Malygos, infuriated at the betrayal by his ally, struck first, but at a great price. As the blue dragonflight flew into formation to attack Neltharion, the mighty black wyrm unleashed the full fury of the Dragon Soul against them, and the power instantly slew nearly every one of them. As the other dragons turned to act, Neltharion retreated, leaving the blue dragonflight broken in his wake.[12]

Wounded and shocked, Soridormi and the other noble dragons were forced to abandon their mortal allies. The dragonflights secluded themselves, hoping to recover from the Dragon Soul's powers, but the damage to the draconic race had been done. The Kaldorei and their allies just barely managed to defeat the legion, but at great cost. Azeroth was sundered.[13]

Aftermath of the Sundering

Deathwing’s betrayal was so destructive that the five dragonflights never truly recovered.[13] If that had not been enough, the ensuing war between the dragonflights decimated the species, and the bronzes were no exception. They would never again be seen in the same numbers as before. The age of Dragons had passed.

To ensure Deathwing would never hold power over dragonkind again, Alexstrasza, Ysera, and Nozdormu placed an enchantment upon the Demon Soul, so that no dragon could wield it, and hid the foul disc deep beneath the earth.[14] The trio later visited the night elven survivors to present the devastated race a gift. Alexstrasza had planted a colossal tree that scraped the heavens, within the new Well of Eternity that would come to be known as Nordrassil. Both Nozdormu and Ysera placed their blessings upon it. Through the World Tree, Nozdormu gave the Kaldorei the gift of immortality, telling them as long as it stood, they would never age or fall prey to sickness or disease.[15]

War of the Shifting Sands

Overlooking Tanaris

A millennia ago the bronze flight was approached by the night elves to assist in defeating the Qiraji during the War of the Shifting Sands. The bronze flight initially refused but reconsidered when the insectoids attacked the fabled Caverns of Time, home of Nozdormu and the bronze dragons. The bronzes joined the fight but when the combined power of the kaldorei and the bronze flight was still not enough to push back the Silithid and their Qiraji masters, Anachronos, heir of Nozdormu, called upon the other flights for assistance. Finally, they managed to seal the insectoids away in their city of Ahn'Qiraj behind the Scarab Wall.[16] The dragons suffered few casualties but the great bronze wyrm, Grakkarond, was lost during one of the battles.[17] After the war Anachronos entrusted the shards of the Scepter of the Shifting Sands to members of the other flights, Vaelastrasz, Azuregos, and Eranikus, keeping a shard for himself.[16]

Battle of Grim Batol

In the events leading up to the Second War, Deathwing led a powerful orc warlock named Nekros to the Dragon Soul — now renamed the Demon Soul. Nekros used the Demon Soul to force the red Dragon Aspect, Alexstrasza, into submission and forced the rest of the red dragonflight to serve him or risk the death of their queen. Korialstrasz, who escaped by faking his death sought the assistance of the other Aspects to free his queen.[18] While well aware of this, Nozdormu was nonetheless content to let the events in the mortal world unfold as they would. Korialstrasz invoked a powerful spell to transport himself to Nozdormu's lair, but the Lord of Time was less than pleased to have his peace disturbed. After listening to the red consort's plea, Nozdormu declined and decided to erase the visit from the timeline altogether. It wasn't until some coaxing from Ysera that he finally agreed.

With the Aspects convinced, Korialstrasz waited until Nekros brought Alexstrasza and her eggs out of the fortress, just as Deathwing had desired. When Deathwing made his appearance, Nozdormu and the others arrived and proceeded to battle Deathwing in the sky near Grim Batol. Korialstrasz's human apprentice, Rhonin, defeated Nekros and used one of Deathwing's scales to destroy the Demon Soul. The destruction of the artifact released the ancient power that had been sealed inside for millennia, making the Aspects whole once more and allowing them to overpower Deathwing and force his retreat. This final battle was known as the Battle of Grim Batol.[19]

After having the power they lost ten thousand years ago returned to them, the bronzes came out of hiding and resumed their watch of the mortal realm. Bronze dragons were once again spotted across southern Kalimdor and bronze agents secretly infiltrated mortal societies.

Third War

Like the other dragonflights, the Bronze dragonflight did not play any significant role in the events of the Third War. The HordeWarchiefThrall did however encounter a group of hostile bronze whelps upon making landfall in The Barrens.[20]

Time Anomaly

In the aftermath of the Third War Nozdormu mysteriously went missing yet again. The red dragon Korialstrasz received the faintest of messages from the Bronze Aspect: visions of him trapped in the time stream, a helpless prisoner of a powerful time anomaly created by the Old Gods. The red consort, along with his former apprentice Rhonin, traveled to the Stonetalon Mountains to investigate this anomaly and were themselves caught within it along with the orcBroxigar. The trio was saved by Nozdormu and cast back into Azeroth, but they found themselves ten thousand years in the past during the War of the Ancients.

The time travelers became entangled in the conflict themselves before another vision by Korialstrasz showed Nozdormu, fighting back against his captors by having called multiple instances of himself from different time periods to assist him. The Old Gods had been manipulating Deathwing and needed his precious Demon Soul for the Legion to succeed in opening their portal to Azeroth, in turn allowing the monstrous Old Gods to follow in their wake. The time-travelers assisted the other Aspects and Soridormi in the battle over the Well of Eternity and just managed to close the great portal, thwarting the Old Gods from escaping. Nozdormu was then able to break free from their anomaly, rejoining the other dragons, and returned Krasus and Rhonin to their proper time.

Removed

Chronormu, an agent of the bronze flight, had traveled to Andorhal under the guise of Chromie, in order to prevent any tampering with the time-line by the Scourge. Chronormu also assisted willing adventurers in rewriting the events of The Battle of Darrowshire in hopes of a better outcome.

The increased activity of the silithid hives, spreading throughout southern Kalimdor, roused the bronze flight, and bronze drakes were spotted flying over Silithus for the first time in a thousand years. Anachronos sent his agent Baristolth of the Shifting Sands, to find a Champion that could recombine the Scepter of the Shifting Sands and open the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj, in hopes the war could be finished and the threat to Azeroth put to rest once and for all.[1]

The Burning Crusade

The bronzes now face a threat much closer to home and their beloved timeways. Shadowy agents have infiltrated the Caverns of Time, attempting to sabotage three key historical events: Thrall's escape from Durnholde, Medivh's creation of the Dark Portal, and the monumental battle of Mount Hyjal. The Infinite dragonflight threaten to undo history. The bronze dragons are investigating the intrusions and seek willing adventurers to travel to these significant events and help preserve the future of Azeroth.[21]

Wrath of the Lich King

Many members of the bronze flight, led by their ambassador Chromie, can be found at Wyrmrest Temple in the Dragonblight as members of the Wyrmrest Accord, an alliance of the remaining dragonflights, defending the temple from the blue dragonflight's siege. While in the Dragonblight, Chronormu wishes to further study the Infinite dragonflight, and sends adventurers to investigate the Bronze Dragonshrine.[22]

Sensing the Infinite dragonflight's further tampering, the bronze flight is also sending adventurers back in time to Stratholme when the young prince of Lordaeron, Arthas, fought Mal'Ganis in order to raze the city in hopes of containing the plague.

Cataclysm

Nozdormu lacks access to the past because of a powerful anomaly disrupting such travel. He sends the heroes to End Time, a future showing the victory and the madness of Deathwing. After this victory, Nozdormu sends the heroes in the War of the Ancients to take the Dragon Soul in order to kill Deathwing.[24] As this occurs, the bronze dragonflight manage to halt the flow of history to negate the impact made upon the past long enough for the artifact to be retrieved.[10]

The bronze dragonflight, led by their Aspect, is present at the Wyrmrest Temple to battle Deathwing and the Twilight's Hammer.[25]

Mists of Pandaria

Following the Cataclysm and the loss of Nozdormu's Aspect powers, the bronze dragons still can travel between time, but they no longer have control over timelines.[3][4] Bronze dragons are still masters of time however and are capable of sending mortals back into the past, as Zidormi demonstrates when she allows players to re-visit Theramore before its untimely devastation and the Blasted Lands before the Ironmarch, as well as into the future, as Chromie did several times to figure out how she would die.

A time anomaly has been discovered on a mysterious isle off the eastern coast of Pandaria, referred to as the Timeless Isle. The Bronze Dragonflight has sent Kairodormu and the Timewalkers to investigate the nature of the isle's behavior and why it became lost in time - literally disappearing and appearing in different periods of time, while the time itself holds no matter on the isle itself. It is mentioned by Kairoz that the bronze flight's powers have "diminished greatly" and that they can "now only catch furtive glimpses through time".[26]

Factions

When the Titans first descended on Azeroth, vanquishing the Old Gods and bringing order to the world, the Highfather of the Pantheon himself empowered the great dragon Nozdormu with some of his own cosmic powers, enabling the dragon to guard time itself and police the ever-spinning pathways of fate and destiny. And so, the stoic, honorable Nozdormu became known as the Timeless One. Ever since then, Nozdormu's Brood has guarded the timestream from all who would seek to disrupt its flow, guided by the Timeless One's wise, all-knowing counsel.

Now, the bronze dragon Anachronos has returned outside the Caverns of Time in the Tanaris desert, the bronze dragonflight's home and province. Events have been set in motion that will shape the future of all of Azeroth, as the attention of the Brood of Nozdormu is focused on Ahn'Qiraj, the fortress city of the Qiraji. A terrible darkness is building up beyond the Scarab Wall, enough to give pause even to the Timeless One himself. The dragons are rallying their champions to descend into the nightmarish hives beneath Ahn'Qiraj and to finish what they have begun.

At the heart of the Tanaris desert lie the Caverns of Time, home of the bronze dragonflight. Nozdormu and his flight work to safeguard the time stream against all who might disturb the delicate pathways of fate. Lately a malevolent force has infiltrated the timeways, and the efforts of this mysterious enemy could lead to a destabilization of the world, and even time itself.

The Keepers of Time have detected interference at several key points in the history of Azeroth. Thrall's escape from Durnholde Keep is being sabotaged to prevent the son of Durotan from fulfilling his destiny of freeing his people and becoming the greatest warchief the orcs have ever known. The same forces working to undo Thrall's escape are also trying to erase the very event that led to the First War and ushered in an age of chaos on Azeroth: Medivh's opening of the Dark Portal. Last but not least, the outcome of the Battle of Mount Hyjal, where the orcs, humans, and night elves stood united against the the might of the Burning Legion, is being altered as well.

In the RPG

Culture

Bronze dragons are often solitary creatures. They can best be described as aloof and introspective, constantly thinking and debating options in their mind. Bronze dragons are often seen near humanoid civilization. They disguise themselves and join mortal societies for extended periods of time, often without ever revealing their true identities, possibly for the reason of research or simply because they enjoy doing so. Bronzes will sometimes become actively involved with the communities they have joined and will lend a hand in order to maintain the safety of the present world at large. They keep watch over occupied regions to watch the development of other races and monitor how events impact the progress of fate.[27]

History

Prior to the War of the Ancients the bronze dragons were numerous and co-existed peacefully with the other dragonflights, working together to safeguard their world. But this age would not last forever.[28]

In the early years following the sundering, is said that Deathwing's black flight attempted to subjugate the bronze dragons. The assault was unsuccessful, primarily because the bronze dragons did not stay and fight as expected. His command of time offering insight into the blacks' plans, Nozdormu alerted his flight of the danger. The bronze dragonflight scattered to the four corners of the globe, where they continued to monitor events and maintain watch over the mortal realm.[27]

Gallery

References

^ abChinese Q&A with devs (2012-02-23). Archived from the original on 2012-11-18. “For example, the bronze dragons can still travel through time, but they are no longer able to control the flow of time.”

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